JAC Motors will launch the first mass-produced electric vehicle with a sodium-ion battery through its new Yiwei brand, a new brand for JAC in 2023. Volkswagen has a 75 percent stake in JAC and owns 50 percent of JAC’s parent Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Holdings (JAG), while the Chinese government owns the other half of JAG. The Yiwei EV is a rebranded version of the Sehol E10X hatchback, announced earlier this year, according to CarNewsChina.
The Sehol model has a 252 km range with a 25 kWh capacity, 120 Wh/kg energy density, 3C to 4C charging, and a HiNa NaCR32140 cell. JAC showcased a separate EV called the Yiwei 3 at the Shanghai Auto Show in April, which launched in June with an LFP lithium battery, promising the sodium-ion variant would launch later. The new Yiwei EV uses cylindrical sodium-ion cells from HiNA Battery and assembles the batteries in the company’s modular UE (Unitized Encapsulation) honeycomb structure, similar to CATL’s CTP (cell-to-pack) and BYD’s Blade.
